


Darker Path: Eclipsed Light

by Meian_of_Yin_Yang



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Errortale (Undertale), Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Master/Slave, Other, Stockholm Syndrome, pet death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-22 04:46:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19660117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meian_of_Yin_Yang/pseuds/Meian_of_Yin_Yang
Summary: This is kind of a sequel to the other Darker Path story, but it's entirely written by me and follows the ending of the original Darker Path story, which is the first chapter.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I changed the end just a little bit, but the majority is still the same.

Error lay on the ground while staring up at the stars of Outertale that shined above him. That had been too close for comfort. He had barely had enough magic and strength to open a portal beneath him and fall through it to escape Ink, G, and Underswap!Papyrus while they had been busy talking. Of course, he had passed out immediately afterwards, but he had gotten away nonetheless. The black skeleton smirked at his accomplishment and pushed himself up into a sitting position, groaning as his joints popped. Suddenly, he heard the sound of crying and felt his soul tug in response to the sound.  
  
He got to his feet and looked around as he tried to find the source of it. A few feet away, Error spotted a small bundle lying in the grass. As he walked over, he glanced around to see if there might be someone lying in wait like this was some kind of trap, but there was no one. Looking down at the bundle he saw that it was a tiny newborn skeleton and, without even thinking about it, the older monster leaned down and gently scooped up the infant into his hands. It's crying grew quieter as Error held it close to him to get a better look. Immediately he somehow recognized the baby as his and Swaps's and he felt tears trickle down his cheeks as he smiled.  
  
"H-Heh heh. L-L-Look at y-you. Yo-You're per-per-perfect. Wow..." Then it dawned on him. Where was Swap? Error looked around and didn't see any sign of the blueberry skeleton except for a note. He crouched down and picked it up, then read it carefully.  
  
_Please take care of my son, Hex._  
  
The paper was shoved into his pocket as his eye sockets began to glitch. Error should have known this might happen and it looks like he had been right to assume as such. Hex began to cry again as if sensing his father's building rage. Hearing his son's cries, the black skeleton forced himself to calm down and held him close to his chest.  
  
"D-D-Don't worry, He-Hex. D-D-D-Daddy's here n-now. I'll take goo-good ca-ca-care of you, I-I-I promise." He said.  


* * *

  
**`_E L E V E N Y E A R S L A T E R . . ._`**  
  
"Come on, Dad, please!?" Hex begged, looking at his father with big puppy eyes. Error sighed.  
  
"F-F-Fine. I'll let y-y-you go t-t-t-to an AU of you-you-your choice, al-al-alone. But I ex-expect you to b-be back h-h-h-here in an ho-hour. And d-d-d-don't let yourself g-g-get caught b-b-by another Sa-Sa-Sans. Got it?" The younger skeleton let out a whoop and jumped around as he cheered.  
  
"Thanks, Dad! You're the best!" He shouted and gave him a hug, then ran off so he could open up a portal. Hex created a window and browsed through the different AUs. A lot of them he had already been to with his dad and he wanted to see a new one that they hadn't been to yet. The skeleton stopped when he found one and smiled, but it faltered when he got this strange feeling in his soul. He shrugged it off, figuring it was because he was a little nervous, and stepped through. Immediately, he was surrounded by the new environment and he found himself standing on top of a mountain ridge that over-looked a city.  
  
"Oh, wow! This is so cool!" Hex gasped as he realized what he was seeing.  
  
"This must be the surface world! Awesome! This universe must've finally gotten their pacifist ending! I wonder which AU this is." The skeleton said to no one, then decided to go down and explore the city as he had never seen the surface world before. Running and teleporting down the mountain, he soon reached the edge of the city and slowed down. Stars appeared in his eyes as he looked at the massive buildings that loomed above. There were so many strange things to see, smell, and hear that it was almost overwhelming, but it didn't bother him too much as he just stared at everything. Just as he was about to walk out of the trees, he heard voices and remembered his dad's warning. He quickly hid behind some trees and peered out to see who the voices belonged to, then felt a strange ache in his soul.  
  
It was a family of skeletons, just like him. The two adults looked almost identical except for their clothes and a couple facial features, but he recognized them as Sanses and wondered why there were two of them in the same universe. One of them wore a red t-shirt and black pants while the other wore a blue shirt, blue jeans, and a blue bandanna around his neck. The one with the red shirt was holding one of the skeletal children's hand, a girl, he assumed, wearing a magenta dress and headband. An identical looking girl, wearing a pink dress that looked a little more frilly and a large bow on the back of her skull, was holding the blue Sans's hand while he held a baby skeleton with the other. Hex's gaze was drawn to the skeleton clad in blue and felt a small tug coming from his soul.  
  
He stood there and stared as they walked past him, all of them smiling and laughing. Without thinking, he ran out of his hiding spot and brought himself to their attention as he said a single word.  
  
"Mom?" They stopped and turned around to face him. Hex saw recognition flash through the eyes of the two Sanses as they stared at him in shock.  
  
"H...Hex?" He started to move towards them, but stopped when he nearly ran into some bones. The girl in the magenta dress was glaring at him as magic flowed from her eyes and around her outstretched hand.  
  
"Mommy isn't yours! Mommy is our mommy!" She said and he was forced to take a couple steps back as she made the bones move closer to him. He easily knocked them aside and sneered.  
  
"You wanna fight, girlie? Cause you'll lose if you try." Just as he was about to summon his strings, the baby skeleton started to cry. The red Sans held his hand out towards the infant.  
  
"Swap, let me take him for a bit." But the blue one shook his head as he gave him a nervous smile.  
  
"I-it's alright, Fell. I got him. Shh. Shh. It's okay, Onyx. It's okay sweetie. There's nothing to be afraid of. Go back to sleep." Hex could feel something inside of him begin to churn violently as he watched his mom comfort the baby. The girl kept glaring at him while her sister hid behind Swap.  
  
"Go away and leave us alone!" She said as she launched some more bones at him. He knocked them out of the air, then summoned his strings, grabbed onto her soul, and lifted her into the air as his body began to glitch.  
  
"Sasha!" The other girl shouted while Fell glared at him.  
  
"Let go of my daughter you bastard." He snarled, his left eye starting to glow red. Suddenly a beam of light shot over their heads and burned the strings that held onto Sasha. Fell ran forward and caught her, asking if she was alright as Hex turned around to see who had broken his strings and saw a tall skeleton wearing an orange hoodie loom over him. Their right eye blazed with orange magic as they glared at him.  
  
"I'd recognize that ability, those strange marks, glitching, and bone colors anywhere. You're Error's child, aren't you?" They asked.  
  
"Yeah, so what?" He saw them look over him at the family and frown.  
  
"Go back to the anti-void. My bro doesn't need you around to remind him of things he wants to forget." The words echoed in his head until he could hear anything thing else, even his own shouting as he attacked the orange-clad skeleton and grabbed his soul with the strings.  
  
"Papyrus!" Swap shouted and Onyx cried even louder, the frightened whimpers from the girls adding to the noise. Hex's body glitched even more as his anger grew.  
  
"Doesn't....need me....? Heh...heheh.... Hahahahahahahaa!" He looked at Papyrus with a malicious smile.  
  
"Then I guess he doesn't need you either." His sockets grew wide and opened his mouth just as Hex crushed his soul. Screams and cries echoed around him as he watched the remains fall to the ground and felt his LV go up once again. Hex looked over his shoulder at the skeletons behind him. The girls clinging to Swap as he pulled them closer to him, his eyes wide with fear, anger, and guilt while Fell stood protectively in front of them with a Blaster floating behind him.  
  
"Get out." He snarled. The young skeleton glared back as he scowled.  
  
"Gladly. There's nothing but disgusting abominations here anyway." Hex said as he opened up a portal to the anti-void and jumped through.  


* * *

  
"H-H-Hex!? He-Hex!?" Error shouted as he looked for his son. He had felt a portal opening a few minutes ago and Hex's presence, but didn't see him anywhere. Eventually, the black skeleton found him with his "zoo."  
  
"Th-Th-There you are. I've b-b-been looking a-a-all over for y-y-you. So, h-h-how did it-"  
  
"I met Mom." Error's eyes went glitchy as his body stiffened.  
  
"Wh-Wha-"  
  
"He replaced me...us...with a new family. Heheh. You should have seen the look on his face when I killed that world's Papyrus right in front of him." Hex chuckled darkly as he played with a very small Frisk.  
  
"And those girls.... God! I want to kill that one girl so badly! The nerves she had...telling me that he wasn't my mom." The black skeleton's body began to glitch as he smiled.  
  
"Hex....h-h-how'd you li-li-like to ma-make h-h-him pay fo-for what h-he's done?" He looked up at him and grinned.  
  
"Sounds like fun."  


* * *

  
Swap sat on the couch, rocking Onyx to sleep as Sarah and Sasha drew in their coloring books on the floor. He jumped to his feet when the front door slammed open and Fell stumbled into the house, his skull cracked and breathing heavily.  
  
"Fell! What in Toriel's name happened!?" The blue-eyed skeleton said as he rushed over to his husband.  
  
"Daddy!" Sarah cried as she ran over with her sister behind her.  
  
"We don't have much time. I barely got away from them, though I think they let me go on purpose." Fell said.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Error and Hex. They...they killed all the Sanses that are stronger than me, e-except for Classic. Even Ink was dusted! And they...they...those bastards destroyed my world! Everyone! I couldn't...I couldn't save Papyrus." Swap fell to his knees and closed his eyes.  
  
"This is all my fault.... I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He said and felt his daughters grab onto him, opening his eyes to see them crying.  
  
"M-mommy? What's happening? D-did something happen t-to Uncle Edge?" Sarah asked, her body shaking with fear. The blue-eyed skeleton opened his mouth to say something when he heard shrieks coming from outside. Fell cursed and pushed himself to his feet.  
  
"We need to get out of here! We'll head for the mountain and take shelter in the underground." He said. Swap nodded and stood up. Onyx started to whimper, but otherwise stayed quiet as if he sensed how much danger they were in. They held onto one another as Swap teleported them up the mountain until they reached the entrance to the mountain and quickly ran inside, only slowing down when they reached the throne room before they came to a complete stop. Sarah started to cry and Sasha tried to calm her down as best she could, even though she was just as scared.  
  
"I-it'll be okay, Sarah. R-remember, C-Chara can just r-reset once they f-find out." The magenta-clad girl said, wiping her sister's tears.  
  
"No. Once Error starts destroying a universe, he makes sure it's permanent." Swap told them. They looked at him in horror and it made him feel guilty, but to say otherwise would be a lie and he didn't like lying, especially to his daughters.  
  
"Th-Th-That's correct." He spun around and saw Error and Hex walk into the throne room, both of them covered in dust and blood. Fell growled and summoned several Blasters.  
  
_**"Y O U D I R T Y B R O T H E R K I L L E R S ! ! !"**_ His eye blazed with blood red magic as the skulls powered up. Bones shot through the Gaster Blasters, shattering them, then strings shot out and wrapped around Fell's soul.   
  
"Daddy!" The girls screamed.  
  
"Swap! Take the kids and run! Go! I'll be fine." He said, forcing a smile on his face despite the pain he was in as his soul was slowly being crushed.  
  
"Fell..." Swap looked up at his husband with tears streaming down his cheeks.  
  
"I love you, Blueberry."  
  
"You tw-tw-two ma-make me sick." Error snarled and tightened the strings around Fell's soul, causing the skeleton to scream in pain, then shattered it.  
  
"NO!" Onyx started to cry and clung to his mom, grabbing the blue bandanna in his hand, as he was forced to listen to the screams of grief that came from his family. Hex grinned at them as he grabbed Sarah's soul and lifted her into the air. She struggled as she tried to free herself.  
  
"Ah ah ah. I wouldn't struggle if I were you. Actually, struggle all you want. It'll just be all the more enjoyable as I squeeze the life out of you." He said with a chuckle as he tightened the strings' grip, causing her to scream in pain.  
  
"Let her go!" Sasha shouted, running at him with a bone club in her hand.  
  
"Alrighty. Here. Catch!" Hex threw the pink-clad skeleton at her sister. She caught her and stumbled before falling onto the floor from the weight.  
  
"Sarah! Sarah, are you okay!?" Sasha cried as she held her twin in her arm. Sarah was barely moving and her soul was so badly cracked that a single touch would shatter it. Her eyes opened a little, but her sockets were devoid of any light.  
  
"S-Sa...sha...?"  
  
"It's okay, Sis. I'm right here."  
  
"I...feel strange...." Sasha's eyes widened and started to shake, barely noticing her mom run over to them.  
  
"Sarah, sweetie, it's gonna be okay. Mommy's here." Swap said as he reached his hand out to heal his daughter, but stopped when two bones suddenly protruded from his daughters' chest. His eyes grew dim as he watched his little girls crumble into dust before his very eyes. He heard Hex and Error laughing behind him.  
  
"So Bl-Bl-Blue, how d-d-d-does it f-f-feel to be the only o-o-one left? Having to wa-wa-watch your l-l-l-l-loved ones d-d-die right in fr-fr-fr-front of you?" The black skeleton asked him as he approached. Before he got within reach, Swap spun around and attacked Error with a relentless barrage of blue and orange bones, then sprung to his feet and ran. He didn't get very far before blue strings tangled his legs and pulled him to the ground, causing him to drop Onyx. Hex smirked as he watched his dad slowly break Swap's body before finally crushing his soul, then looked over at where the infant lay. Onyx was curled up among the golden flowers, wailing loudly as he clutched his mother's bandanna in his hands. He looked up at the other two skeletons with fear in his large yellow eyes.  
  
Error grinned as he began to grab the toddler's soul, but then stopped. An image of when he found Hex flashed through his mind and he pulled his strings back, then walked over to Onyx.  
  
"Dad? What are you doing!?" But the black skeleton didn't reply as he picked up the baby and walked back over to him. He handed Onyx over to Hex.  
  
"He re-re-reminded m-m-me of when I-I-I found y-y-you as a b-b-baby. Yo-You'll be ta-ta-ta-taking care of your bro-brother."  
  
"What!? Are you crazy!? I don't want anything that has to do with Mom anymore!" Hex shouted, his body starting to glitch from his anger, but then stopped when he felt his half-brother cling to him. Onyx could sense a trace of his mom's magic in the shorter skeleton and instinctively grabbed onto him, letting out a small whine as he pulled the bandanna closer. He sighed and looked away.  
  
"Fine. I'll take care of him. Hey, brat. What's your name?" The yellow-eyed skeleton looked up at him and blinked.  
  
"O...n...y...x. On...nyx. Onyx" Hex blinked, realizing that his brother must be only a few months old if he's having to say his own name like that. Then he pointed up at him.  
  
"Name?"  
  
"My name?" Onyx nodded.  
  
"It's Hex." The little boy smiled.  
  
"H...e...x. He...x. Hex." He raised an eyebrow when the infant tried to say his name.  
  
"Br...oth...er. Brother." The older skeleton smiled slightly, though his eyes didn't change.  
  
"That's right. I'm your big brother. And you're gonna be living with us from now on." Hex told him.


	2. The Start

In a blank white area stood four male skeletons, one was an adult who had black bones and strangely colored eyes and eye sockets with blue lines going down from the bottom of them and wore a red sweater shirt and black jacket and shorts. Standing next to him stood the second youngest skeleton, who had mostly white bones, but his right arm and left leg were black. He also had blue lines going down from his different colored eye sockets and wore a grey bodysuit with different colored boots. Just behind the second skeleton stood the youngest, who was about six years old and had bright yellow eyes and sharp teeth, wearing an overly large black hoodie with fur around the hood and a blue bandanna around his neck. The first skeleton, Error, had his strings tied around the fourth skeleton, whom he had recently captured and brought for the two younger skeletons to practice on. Hex was bouncing a little with glee while the younger skeleton, Onyx, looked nervous.  
  
“....do we have to hurt him?” Onyx asked as he looked up at Error and Hex.  
  
“If you want to get stronger, yeah.” Hex told him. The younger skeleton let out a soft whine and looked at the tied up skeleton with mixed emotions in his eyes.  
  
“Seems wrong…” He muttered quietly.  
  
“Kid, what’s wrong is that you and your family were attacked just because they had connections to us.” Error told him, scowling a bit. The tied up skeleton let out a muffled shout, as if in protest. The black skeleton glared at him and had the strings tighten their grip. “Hex, show him how to make it quick and easy, otherwise we’ll be here all day.” Said skeleton nodded and stepped forward as he summoned a sharp bone.  
  
“Just summon a thin bone as sharp as you can make it and aim for the left side of their rib cage. Straight to the soul and bam! All dust.” He told the younger skeleton, pressing the point right where the other skeleton’s soul was. “Does take a bit of practice, but you’ll get the hang of it.” Onyx gave a small nod and stepped forward as he summoned a small bone that tapered to a point on one end, aiming it at where Hex’s bone was pointed. His body shook as he pulled his arm back. Squeezing his eyes shut, he threw his arm forward and launched the bone as hard as he could. The bone bounced off the skeleton’s shirt and clattered to the ground. Error sighed and picked up the bone, summoning one of his own and used it to sharpen the smaller bone before handing it to Onyx.  
  
“Try again.” He told him. The boy opened his eyes and gave a small nod as he took the bone in his hands, his body still shaking. Error stepped back and watched him. It had been five years since he and Hex had gone to Underswap and destroyed most of it. What he had told Onyx was a complete lie, as he and his son had really been the ones to attack, and kill, Onyx’s family, leaving the then infant an orphan. When he had been about to kill him, seeing the infant with his mother’s bandanna had brought back memories of when he had found Hex alone with Swap’s bandanna, so he had decided to adopt him. It was clearly obvious that Error wasn’t any of Onyx’s birth parents, so he made up the lie that his birth family had been killed because of being associated with him and Hex and Error had rescued him from being killed as well.  
The black skeleton sighed and rubbed his skull as he watched Onyx repeatedly try to kill the tied up skeleton and fail. “Alright. I think that’s enough for today.” He said as he looked at the boys. They nodded and backed up. Error summoned more strings and had them lift the other skeleton up to where a web of strings crisscrossed the “ceiling” of the anti-void and hung him there. He looked down at Onyx and noticed the boy looked nervous and relieved at the same time, if that was even possible. “Onyx.” The older skeleton called. He looked up at him slowly.  
  
“....yes Daddy?” Onyx quietly replied.  
  
“I know this is hard for you, but you need to do it.” He told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. The boy lowered his head as he gave a small nod.  
  
“I know, it’s just….it doesn’t seem right to kill someone if they haven’t done anything wrong.” Error let out an internal groan. _Fucking Yellow Justice souls, I swear._  
  
“Even still, I expect you to train hard so you can at least defend yourself. Understand?” Onyx nodded. “Good. You and Hex can go play for a bit while I go get us some food.” The boy gave another nod and went over to where Hex was. The black skeleton watched the two go and sighed before opening a portal and leaving.  
_____________________________________  
  
Onyx glanced back and watched as his adopted dad leave through a portal, then turned back to his half-brother. “Hex?” Said skeleton stopped and looked at him.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Does...does Daddy not like me?” Hex raised an eyebrow. “It’s just….he never seems to smile at me like he does with you.”  
  
“Well, I mean your dad did steal Mom from us, so it might be that. You do look a lot like Fell with the sharp teeth and all.” The older skeleton told him. He flinched a bit at that and lowered his head.  
  
“Oh…” Onyx said and pulled his hoodie tighter around him. “...I’ll, um...I’ll be over by my nest…” He told the older skeleton in a quiet voice, then walked away. The boy heard his brother sigh and walk away as well. Onyx reached the pile of blankets and pillows that made up his nest and climbed onto it, curling up a little. He didn’t have very much stuff, just some stuffed animals and toys to keep him occupied whenever Error and Hex did their own training. Sometimes he wished he could leave the anti-void and explore some of the AUs himself, but they never let him go with them. Onyx reached out and grabbed a stuffed toy tiger and pressed it against his chest as he curled up some more, feeling a little tired as he closed his eyes.  
_____________________________________  
  
Hex muttered under his breath as he went over to where his pets were, grumbling a bit. “Kid is fucking lucky Dad decided to even show him mercy after Swap betrayed us by having him and his sisters.” He muttered, sitting down by his cat, who softly growled at him but did nothing. All his pets knew better than to try and hurt him lest they be hurt in return. Only a few of them were allowed to touch him, mostly his pet spiders. “Hey glitch! Come rub my shoulders.” Hex shouted.  
  
“Y...yes M-master.” Another skeleton said as they walked over. It was another male with sharp teeth and white pupils, wearing only torn pants, a pair of cracked, red half-moon glasses, and a metal collar around his neck with a leash made from blue strings attached to it. He had a small glitch on top of his head that flickered a bit as he knelt behind Hex and started to massage his shoulders, standing a bit taller than him. Hex relaxed a little, leaning slightly into the taller skeleton’s touch.  
  
“Perfect. Right where I like it.” The other skeleton blushed slightly and nodded.  
  
“A-anything to p...please you.” He said. Hex glanced up at him. The taller skeleton’s real name was Serif and he was actually younger than Hex. He and his dad had destroyed Serif’s birth world, Flowerfell, and his parents, Geno and Flowerfell Sans. They would have killed him too, but Hex found the younger skeleton cute enough to spare him and keep as one of his pets. The older skeleton smiled as he thought about how he had trained the younger one to obey him. It had definitely been fun, to say the least. “...may I a-ask what you’re t...thinking about?” Serif asked.  
  
“Hmm….yes, you may.” Hex replied. “I was thinking about when I first trained you and how much fun it was.” He told him, smirking a bit when he saw the younger skeleton flinch and blush a little.  
  
“O-oh…” Serif said, still massaging the older's shoulders, going quiet after that. Hex closed his eyes and relaxed a little, feeling the tension from his body leave as his shoulders became less tense.  
  
"You can stop now." He told him and sat up. Serif nodded and moved back, sitting down. Hex rolled his shoulders a little and smiled. "You did a good job today, so I think I'll give you a treat." The older skeleton said and had his strings connect to the leash. "I'll take you on a walk outside." After Serif nodded, the two got up and Hex opened a portal to a random AU before the two of them left, then closed it behind him.  
_____________________________________  
  
When Onyx woke up, he realized that it was too quiet and sat up as he looked around. He didn't see any sign of Hex or the nice skeleton his brother kept as a pet. Onyx frowned and pulled his stuffed toy closer. “....Hex? ….Daddy?” The boy called out, but there was no response. He let out a soft whimper and curled up. Onyx rocked himself a little as he sat there, waiting for one of them to come back. A while later, he looked up when he heard a portal open and saw Error return with some bags. The boy quickly got to his feet and ran over to him, hugging the older skeleton tight as he shook.  
  
“Onyx? What’s wrong?” Error asked.  
  
“...got left alone.” He said. The older skeleton sighed and had a string put the bags away before gently picking up Onyx.  
  
“It’s okay kiddo. I’m here now.” He told him. Onyx gave a small nod as he curled up against him.  
  
“....Daddy?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“....can I have a pet, too?” The boy asked, looking up at him and saw the older skeleton blink in surprise.  
  
“What?”  
  
“A pet. Like Hex has. He won’t let me play with his and all I have are my toys. I promise I’ll take good care of it.” Onyx said, pleading a little.  
  
“...I’ll think about it.” He frowned a bit, but nodded.  
  
“Okay.” The boy said, lowering his head a bit as Error set him back down.  
  
"Go play with your toys for a bit while I get dinner ready." Onyx nodded and went over to his area.  
_____________________________________  
  
Error watched the boy walk off and sighed as he covered his face with his hand, rubbing his forehead a little as he reminded himself to talk to Hex later before walking over to where the bags were and getting the food ready  
  


* * *

  
Days went by and Onyx kept practicing on trying to kill the tied up skeleton until he finally managed to do it. When Onyx felt his LV go it, it made him shudder and feel weird, but forced himself to smile when his dad patted him on the shoulder and congratulated him. His smile became genuine when he was told he could have a pet and Error presented him with strange looking puppy. It had yellow fur with orange markings, rather long legs, a short muzzle and tail, and large ears. The weirdest thing was that it had leathery wings. But Onyx was just happy to have a pet of his own and accepted it, thanking his adoptive dad. He named his pet Tiger because of the stripes. Tiger was wary of him at first, but eventually accepted Onyx and was always with him wherever he went, becoming Onyx’s only friend.  
With Tiger as his pet and friend, Onyx grew happy as he now had someone to talk to, even if he couldn’t talk back, and play with, though he had to be careful that Tiger didn’t chew on his favorite toys. However, Onyx noticed that Tiger seemed to growl a bit whenever Hex got close to him, though he didn’t know why.  
Error was glad that Onyx was happy with his new pet and secretly enjoyed watching the two play and train together and run around the anti-void, filling the silence with laughter and yips. Sometimes he’d even join in and play catch with Tiger, watching the pup run after whatever toy was thrown and bring it back. The good thing was that the animal never needed to be let out to do it’s business like Hex’s cat did, so he didn’t have to worry about it getting lost or forgotten. He did notice that Hex seemed to glare at Onyx from time to time, but knew that he’d get over it eventually.  
  
One day, ten-year-old Onyx was playing with four-year-old Tiger by his area, the two of them playing tug-of-war with a rope. Onyx jumped when he heard shouting and looked up to see Hex storming over to him with a torn doll in his hand, the older skeleton looking furious and glitching badly with Serif right behind him, asking the shorter to calm down. The boy shrank a little in fear as he let go of the rope and backed up, then yelped when strings flew at him and grabbed his wrist before dragging him over to Hex. He looked at his half-brother with fearful eyes as he shook. “I thought I fucking told you to leave my stuff alone!” Hex shouted, almost shoving the doll in his face. Onyx pulled back a bit as he tried to sit up and get a better look at the doll.  
  
“Hex, please just calm do-” Serif began, but closed his mouth when Hex shot him a glare before turning back to Onyx.  
  
“I gave you one simple fucking task! To leave my damn stuff alone!” He snarled. Confused and scared, Onyx didn’t know what Hex was talking about until he looked at the doll and felt his soul go still with horror. The torn doll was his brother’s favorite doll, the one that was almost always with him in his own nest. He gulped and tried to speak, but his voice was shaking.  
  
“I...I c-caught the c-cat w...with it. I-I tried to g-get it away from...from him, b-but he w-wouldn’t let g-go.” He told him. Hex opened his mouth to shout some more, but cried out in pain when Tiger launched himself forward and bit his hand and strings.  
  
“You stupid fucking mutt!” The older skeleton shouted and smacked the animal, causing Tiger to yelp and let go of him.  
  
“Leave Tiger alone!” Onyx pleaded, then cried out when Hex smacked him as well.  
  
“Shut the hell up!” The boy looked up at his brother and gagged a bit when he grabbed his neck and lifted him off the ground. “I’ll never understand why dad deciding to fucking spare you. You’re nothing but a reminder of what was stolen from us.” Hex growled, then stumbled when Tiger attacked him again and summoned some sharp bones as he kicked the animal off and launched them, pinning the canine creature down as he yelped. When he saw this, Onyx struggled to free himself from Hex’s grasp as he wiggled.The boy was starting to have trouble breathing as he grabbed at his brother’s arm and hand.  
  
“Hex, please let go of him. He’s learned his lesson.” Serif spoke up, gently grabbing the arm that had a hold of Onyx. Onyx looked at the two older skeletons as Hex seemed to consider his words, then let go and dropped the boy. He coughed as he was able to breathe again and panted.  
  
“Next time, your punishment will be worse.” The boy heard his brother say before the two walked away. He glanced over and watched them go before turning to Tiger, who was bleeding from where the bones pierced his body. Onyx crawled over to the canine, growing worried when his friend didn’t move.  
  
“I...it’s gonna be o-okay, Tiger. I’ll...I’ll get those bones...out of you.” The young skeleton said as he panted a little, still catching his breath as he sat up and grabbed one of the bones and started to pull. He heard a faint whimper from Tiger and sighed in relief, knowing his friend was going to be okay. Onyx carefully pulled the bones out as blood still flowed from the wounds, then used his magic to bring over the first aid kit and wrapped up the injuries as best he could. Once he was done, he quickly went over to his nest and grabbed one of the blankets, then brought it over to Tiger and laid it over him. “Don’t worry boy. Once Daddy gets back we can get you fixed up. I’ll stay with you.” He said, gently petting his head. Tiger lifted his head a little and licked his hand a few times before laying it back down. Onyx laid next to his friend and watched him as his eyes slowly drooped, a little tired from playing earlier, and eventually fell asleep…  
  


* * *

  
The boy felt someone shaking his shoulder and opened his eyes a little, looking up to see his dad kneeling over him with a worried expression. “Kiddo? You alright?” He asked. Onyx nodded, then his eyes flew open and quickly sat up before looking over at where Tiger was...only to see dust in his place.  
  
“...where’s Tiger? He was right here next to me.” He said as he looked up at the black skeleton and saw his frown.  
  
“Onyx, I...I’m sorry kiddo, but…Tiger is dead.” Onyx’s eyes widened in horror.  
  
“No...no, he...he can’t be dead…” The boy told him. “I-I bandaged his wounds like you showed me.” He stared at the pile of dust as he felt Error place a hand on his shoulder.  
  
“I’m sorry kiddo, but some wounds can’t be fixed.” Onyx sat there as tears welled up in his eye sockets as he started to cry. He felt himself be pulled into his dad’s arms, but everything else was numb with shock. The boy sat there until it finally sunk in and began to sob, wailing with grief as he cried into Error’s shirt, crying out for Tiger to come back.  
_____________________________________  
  
Error held Onyx close as he gently rocked him, letting the boy cry while he had his strings gather up the dust onto the blanket and tie it up. He stayed there, gently rocking the younger skeleton until he cried himself to sleep, then carefully placed him in his nest with the blanket and stood up. After making sure that Onyx was comfortable, he headed over to where Hex and Serif were. The two looked up when they heard him walk over and felt a bit satisfied when he saw Serif flinch. “Kid, would you go keep an eye on Onyx for me? I need to have a word with my son.” Error said. The younger skeleton glanced between the two as he nodded and hurried off. Hex scowled as he watched Serif leave, then looked at his dad.  
  
“What?”  
  
“What the hell happened?” Error hissed, keeping his voice down.  
  
“He tore my favorite doll so I punished him, but the stupid mutt kept attacking me so I attacked back.” Hex told him.  
  
“I can easily fix it!” The older skeleton snapped. “And that “stupid mutt” is nothing but a pile of dust now because of you.” The younger skeleton went still, his eyes wide in disbelief.  
  
“...what?”  
  
“Yeah. He’s dead because you couldn’t control your anger. When Onyx wakes up, I expect you to apologize to him. Do I make myself clear?” Error said, staring at his son until he nodded.  
  
“Yes Dad.”  
  
“Good. Now let me see the doll and I’ll fix it.” Hex handed over the doll and the older skeleton went to work, unaware that things were going to be different between the two boys now...


End file.
